I've NEVER been a big phan regarding the pre-phrabricated phly phuselage notion... but...
"if you build it, they will come"...
'might as well have the phur n' pheatherz pre-attached and internal magnets for a click-on-click-off quick-change application...
To each their own... but I digress...
Here's a "Wrapped n' Welded Three Pheather Phlat Wing" that was enthusiastically "assembled" in the Area61 Skunk Works by ME and phinished with BB magic voodoo acrylic...

I do agree with you on the prefabricated parts, but I doubt that the average tyer is able to obtain with plain materials what can be done with fly foils with less skill. My own first attempt, which I have named the Foileel, does look pretty convincing both above and under water.

yesterday's blow turned off today's Albie bite...
'going to splash das boat at phirst light and see if there are any T-tailed phunny phish lookin' for trouble...
weshallsee...
Bug-Bond strikes again...!

Use wire and save the phly [which will look as if it was run through a wood chipper] and the False Albies will take a pass...
The toothy muggerz look fashionably cute with their new piercings! :lol:
Gotta' do what you gotta' do...
Consider it a sacrifice to the Phish Gods...
NO worries... there's more where that came from... :wink:

I really do admire your flies, although I have been a fresh-water North Country style fly-dresser for most of the time. I have done some salt-water fishing for the smaller cousins of your targets.
I never did subscribe to the attitude that 'mackerel bashing' was strictly for the once-a-year holiday
day fishers. Some of the most exciting fishing experiences have been catching mackerel on light spinning tackle using simple sandeel/silver baitfish imitations. We don't get the tuna on this side much, certainly not to be able be able to develop an obsession with them as you have. I make no bones about it, given the chance, I would have done. I am not sorry about my fishing experience has been mainly with brown trout in our Scottish small burns (creeks), rivers and lochs, using mainly wet flies. But, fishing is fishing, and Halford and his friends were not the only so called 'purists', they can be found in all spheres of fishing, fresh water wet flies are no exception.
I think your flies are superb examples of imitations of fish food, which is what we are all trying to achieve. Great stuff, keep up the good work.. You've cheered me up a lot at 05.00 AM.

Thank you Donald...
your kind words really do mean a lot to me...
Martin is a wonderful host and has made a great place to visit and share our common and diverse interests...
This is a very civilized and safe harbour in which to spend quality time... GOOD VIBRATIONS !
The phact that I've brightened you day [or anyone's day] with my incoherent banter and photos phrom the phringe, all the better!
I appreciate any and all encouragement!
My background has been almost entirely in shore salt water... with the occasional safari off shore or to the interior where things don't need to washed off at the end of the day...
My sweet water tying is abysmally limited and basically downsized versions of what I tye for my Striper/Blue/Albie phishin'...
This November I'll be spending some quality time with Faruk Ekich [check out his "Ultimate Bobbin" and "Damaseal Vise"... amazing!] at the Int'l Fly Tying Symposium at Somerset, NJ...
I hope to be properly schooled and to return home with some fresh water phuzzie notions...
ya' know what "they" say about teaching an old dog new tricks...
weshallsee!?

Gentlemen,
I couldn't agree more with Pete, this is a nice and quite place to exchange views on the second best way to spend time.
In my FF life I have tried a few things. Seems there are pros and cons not to live close to fishable water.
I am home to fresh water, fishing the same river in the 33rd season that is close to my birth town, now a three hour drive), and there is and I hope there always will be a fish smarter than me in the water. Besides that my job takes me to prime fishing spots on occasion at leats it used to, these days it is more Asia). That is the way I started in the salt (or as Pete puts it "where you have to rinse the tackle") on the island of Fyn in Denmark. New Zealand and Alaska flights were paid for by someone else in the better days.
I also lived 2 years a little north of Pete on Cape Anne, stripers and blues.

Pete's flies are great, as are the ones Donald showed (as said earlier I teid a few and they were successfull in the Gerrman midlands).
My tying is far from being as presentable as either of yours, but I take great pleasure from exchanging views and the occasional joke.
TL and always a hand of water under the keel (your both boat fisherman and the customary dry socks are meaningless in this case)
Florian
PS @ Pete your saltwater flies would work for Northern Pike without altering a bit. Unfortunately we are in wire tippet territory again, but large trout taking pike streamer don't care that much at least every now and then

Thanks for the kind words. As long as you guys and a few others keep posting, I feel that there's a good reason to keep this running. I enjoy the calm tone and the great flies, and it might not be busy and high traffic, but it has its charm.

I like this BB because it is not too crowded, it may take a wee while to get a response, but we are fly fishers who are expected to have patience, (that is a laugh) anyway I like a little peace and quiet from the over indulgent egos on some other BBs.

and it's "GLOBAL"...
and Martin hasn't given me any "time outs" or issued any "red cards"...
I'm still trying to get my arms around the notion that what I post from my laptop finds Donald's computer... Go Phigure?! ausgezeichnet !'same idea... with some purplesque going on...
Peeete's Herring Impaired...
and some Bug-Bond candy for desert...

Global indeed. and an open community.
When I was in college, last century, I fished a midland stream in Germany with a friend and we bumped into another guy waving the long stick. He shared which pattern he was catching on and where he took a couple of grayling. Quite nromal behaviour among FFishers which we take for granted. Then after we parted, my friend (bait and spin fisherman) asked whether I knew the other flyfisherman. At that moment it dawned to me that those tying feathers and hairs around hooks are not quite as secretive as other fishermen. I had similar experineces fishing in my and other countries.
I don't think that makes us better or worse, it is just that I prefer dealing that way.
TL
Florian

Well Pete,
I have been tying flies for quite a wee while now, and I know well dressed flies when I see them. I can still dress them myself, but my eyes are not good enough now to drive a car, so my fishing opportunities are very limited.
Never mind I can still dress and appreciate flies. I have been using this site for quite a while, because it has great flies. :D :D

Florian, well said...
and...
Donald, I pheel your pain...
It's a shame that good vision is wasted on the young who take it for granted...
Wouldn't it be curious if we all started out visually challenged and slowly evolved with age to become more and more in phocus [and wise] ?!
'more phly porn pics from the visually impaired phly welder...

Hi Pete,
impressive work, I almost wrote as ususal.
Concerning matching he hatch, at times a little overrated in my experience, some of the fish we are chasing respond well to a little provocation.
TL
Florian

I'm also working my way through the LCR's and I'm not quite decided yet. I have yet to try Loon, which was recommended to me by a shopkeeper. It's quite expensive, though. I also ordered some Deer Creek Diamond Hard and will try that soon.

I love the concept, and find the LRC's really easy to work with. Soooo much better than epoxy.

Martin...
IMHO... for me, the DH narrow beam death ray was hard master... it was very intense and phocused which caused problems as the acrylic heated up so quickly... more often than not, a puff of smoke would precede a molten bubble deformation... 'easier to work with a broader, less intense, slower to cure UV beam... the end product struck me as a bit brittle...

G'day Martin...
All the L.C.A.'s are wonderful... I've comfortably settled into my BB comfort zone...
While epoxy still has a place in production tying and fixing loose chairs, I won't be playing any more 5 minute "beat the clock" nor hangin' stuff out to "dry" on my phly turner...
inthemeantime
astheworldturns...

Dr Ned Lunt is a true gentleman, a scholar among men, a dental luminary, a teacher, an inventor, a family man, a Renaissance man, and a REALLY NICE GUY !!!
In his free time some years back, he had a notion and a vision which changed the phly tying landscape forever...
and Tuffleye was introduced...
It's still the only L.C.A. product cured with the non-UV, non-hazardous-to-your-eyeballs' safe Blue Light...
['been to your dentist's office lately?!]
Unlike epoxy, acrylics are a non-yellowing resin and light-tuned/activated hardener all in one...
Early on, there were some consumer issues with phlyz yellowing...
Suspecting that the problem was not with the Tuffleye but with what the tyers' were using to coat the phlyz with, Dr Ned developed a "purified" version of a clear liquid lacquer sealant to defeat the tacky residue and to make the phly look prettier in the box...
[the phish really don't care]...
but I digress...

With that in mind, several years ago ['almost 3] I placed some samples in a box and stuck that box in a dark corner cubbyhole of my tying bench...
Today I opened that "time capsule"... 'Quite a curious revelation !...
Below is a photo that explains why I use and recommend Tuffleye Clear Coat over the other more recognizable product[s]...
A picture is worth a thousand wordz...!!!
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it...

[b]Martin...
When I tie some small stuff I'm always amazed at how little material is "consumed"...
Besides being able to actually SEE THEM...
The BIG PHLYZ are phun but, if ya' wann'a dance, ya' gott'a pay the band !!!

it's me again with a question. After my first attempts, my LCR work looks still horrible, but the movement of the fly is very subtle in the water (bath tube). My question is, when you're welding a phly with 3 saddle feathers on each side, are they all welded with the shiny side to the hook or tube and what is you preferred tool for applying LCR (I know these are two questions - sorry :wink: )?

Pheatherz [generally speaking] have a concave [inner/dull] and a convex [outer/shiny] side... [please correct me if I'm mistaken]
I apply a bead of L.C.A. along the spine [just wide enough to involve the barbs] on the concave side and a bead on the target [hook shaft/tube]...
Once ready to spot weld, have the light in hand and at-the-ready...
When the two surfaces touch and the phinal pheather position is achieved, ON goes the UV curing light... Bada BING... Bada BOOM...
I've tried Tuffleye, Clear Cure Goo, Bug-Bond, Loon, and Deer Creek...
The ONLY one left in my kit is BUG-BOND Original with the Pro Tip...
'Bug-Bond offers me the best control and pinpoint precision application...
It's durable, quick to cure, and my personal L.C.A. of choice... 'works BEST for ME...!!!
I also prefer Tuffleye Clear Coat to ensure a tack phree, glassy smooth surface...
and...
No matter which L.C.A. that you choose, I'd still recommend placing the phinished welded phlyz in the presence of the ultimate curing light [the SUN] to absolutely cure 100% thru and thru...